This specification relates to user profile related services.
Gathering recommendation information about local entities, such as local businesses or local recreational areas, is very difficult as current systems typically rely on user reviews. Sometimes only highly trafficked businesses have a sufficient number of user reviews such that an unbiased rating of the business can be derived for making recommendations to users within the location of the local entity. For example, a local business may have a poor rating based on a single review from a first user. A second user cannot reasonably infer if the poor rating is due primarily to the reviewer's bias or due to the poor service from the local business.
Additionally, there are other data from which users may infer a rating. For example, web blogs that include conversation threads may be very informative of the quality of service and products provided by an entity. Likewise, the presence of many users at the entity over a period of time (e.g., heavy foot traffic relative to other the foot traffic of other entities over the same time period) may also be informative of the quality of service and products provided by the entity. However, each of the data sources—reviews, conversations, traffic, and other such data that may indicate the quality or interest of a location within an area—are disparate sources and not explicitly associated. Accordingly, recommendations and ratings cannot not be reasonably inferred, as users cannot associate this data.